Use of compositional devices

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Repetition
First movement


Second movement


Variation
First movement
Fig 4. Chant-like theme first appears, accomp. by oboes, cor anglais, and bassoons. all playing ostinatos.
fig 7. chant theme repeats but is varied, by , first oboe playing 8ve higher cello and double bass accomp, with short staccato notes.
4 bars after fig 12. Variation of chant melody with Tenor voice. With HArp ostinato, susatined notes with flutes and pboes. with counter point parts on S,A and B, staggered entires.
Fig 5. Ostinato variation on ostinato at fig 4. similar contour satccato, both have rising minor 3rds. 2nd ostinato takes rising minor 3rd idea and extends it.

Second movement
Insrtumental of movt 2 is a variation of fig 5 ostinato of first movnt.


Contrast
First movement



Second movement


USE OF COMPOSITIONAL TECHNIQUES
CONTRAST
  • Sudden articulation changes reinforce sudden contrasts between sections; e.g movt 3 fig. 13, moves from legato to staccato, accented figure in next bar.
  • Sudden dynamic changes reinforce sudden contrasts between sections; e.g movt 3 fig. 13, moves from p to ff in next bar.
  • The three movements are quite contrasting, the first very chant like, using ostinati; written as a prelude. The second movement consists of weightier material, being a double fugue and very contrapuntal. The last movement is the longest and most significant, where many ideas are repeated, varied and new contrasting ideas are presented.
  • The third movement contains the most examples of contrast; e.g. fig. 20 new lyrical melody, quite diatonic in contrast with other sections. Also contrast exists in melodic interest in this section, and the focus is on the melody rather than the rhythm.
  • First movement the E minor punctuating chord contrasts with the constant semiquaver flow of the alternating sections.
  • Contrast exists within sections, e.g movt.1fig 4 between legato articulation and crotchet rhythm of melody and staccato articulation and quaver movement of ostinato.
  • Often sudden changes to contrasting sections without a gradual transition; e.g. movt 3 fig. 13, movt. 1 three bars after fig. 12, sudden change in dynamics, metre, tonal centre, with no transition or link.


REPETITION
  • Use of ostinati to unify sections by their repetition of the same melodic and rhythmic idea; e.g. first movt. ostinato figure first introduced at fig. 4 recurs at 7 and serves as a recognisable feature of this movement.
  • Second movement use of fugue involves repetition of fugue subject through all the voices.
  • Repetition of E minor chord in first movement unifies the movement, asserts a tonal centre of E and acts as a ‘punctuation mark’.
  • Movt. 1 contains two climaxes, both use the same ostinato patterns, played in quavers in some instruments, and semiquavers in other instruments.
  • In the first movement the melody introduced at figure 4 is repeated a lot throughout the movement, alternating with contrasting sections; fig. 7, three bars after fig. 12.
  • Movt. 3 the opening ‘Alleluia’ is repeated two bars before fig. 13 and at fig. 29 to create unity and symmetry.
  • Movt. 3 the ‘Laudate’ section at fig. 1 is repeated a number of times to create a hypnotic effect; it then repeats six bars from the end to provide unity and balance the whole movement.
  • Third movt.; from fig.22 the ‘Laudate’ melody with ostinato accompaniment figure on harp, piano and timpani, repeats for 12 bars, then the ostinato continues on under a variation of the melody, before the original melody comes back at fig. 26 – 28. From fig. 28 the ostinato continues on its own for a further six bars.
  • In the first movt. the presence of the chorus is used to create a church-like atmosphere in this piece as well as to appropriately set the Psalm. It enters with a minor 2nd motif, which is used both to emphasize the C#/D octatonic scale and set the pleading text. The minor second motif in the chorus is continued throughout the movement.


VARIATION
  • Dominant 7th and diminished 7th patterns are used frequently, in different positions and inversions; movt. 1 the opening semiquaver figure in oboe on the dom. 7th of E flat and C is varied and inverted at fig.1, then at fig.2 it appears again in ascending form but based on Phrygian mode.
  • At fig. 7 the opening melody is repeated with expanded instrumentation.
  • The E Phrygian pattern from fig. 2 reappears at fig. 9 and again at fig.12, now in quadruple metre with staccato articulation. At both these sections rhythmic variation is used, with the ostinato occurring in quavers in some instruments and semiquavers in others.
  • Three bars after fig. 12, the vocal melody first introduced at fig. 4 in the Alto part reappears in the tenor part, but in this version the altos harmonise with a repeated note pattern as heard at fig. 12, before the sopranos take over the main melody at 13. The combination of the four parts is quite dissonant and has a polyphonic texture.
  • The ostinato figure from fig. 4 of the first movt. forms the basis of the instrumental fugue subject; but the interval between the second and third note ascends a 5th instead of down a 4th; this is called octave equivalence.
  • At fig. 10 in the second movt. the vocal fugue theme is varied by the technique known as stretto; instead of the 4 bar spacing used at the first statement of the vocal fugue, the entries are much closer together; all entering a crotchet beat apart.
  • At figure 12 in the second movt. the instrumental fugue is developed and varied, again using stretto and changing the instrumentation to bass trombone, horn, cor anglais, oboe. Then at fig. 13 the trombone plays a dotted note variation of the subject while the flute, then oboe, horn enter successively with a descending countermelody.
  • The third movement is where Stravinsky works most in symphonic style, by presenting themes and varying and developing them. For example, at fig. 3 a new rhythmic figure is introduced which consists of a crotchet rest on beat 1, followed by six quavers. After a few repetitions variations of this figure then occur; five bars after fig.4 it reappears without the crotchet rest, at figure 5 it is transformed into a triplet pattern, which is then varied two bars later by the inclusion of a quaver rest on the last of each group of quavers.
  • At fig. 6 a varied form of the ‘Laudate’ figure from fig. 1 appears, sung by the altos and sopranos without the descending perfect 4th.
  • At fig. 8 the rhythmic pattern from fig. 3 appears in the altos and tenors, rhythmically varied with a quaver rest on the first beat instead of a crotchet rest.
  • At fig. 15 the choir repeats the rhythmic pattern from fig. 8 . This is varied by it being accompanied by the bassoon playing an ostinato similar to the one from the first movement. The repeat of the choral pattern is interspersed with recurrences of the triplet pattern from fig. 5, this continues to build up into a complex polyphonic texture and the orchestra takes over with variations of the triplet figure being passed around between the instruments. Three bars before fig. 15 the repeated note quaver figure is given new treatment as it slows down and is accompanied by descending minims as a transition in to the new melody section.
  • At fig 22 the choral ‘Laudate’ melody from fig. 1 is varied into a triple metre repeating pattern consisting of downward stepwise movement.